Business briefs, April 24, 2007

NEW YORK - Stocks retreated from historically lofty levels Monday as rising oil prices chilled investor enthusiasm for strong earnings reports and new takeover activity. The Dow Jones industrials came within 17 points of 13,000 before pulling back. The blue chip index hit a new trading high of 12,983.92 after British bank Barclays PLC said it will acquire Dutch bank ABN Amro NV for $91.16 billion, and British drugmaker AstraZeneca PLC said it will buy U.S. drugmaker MedImmune Inc. for $15.6 billion. A spike in crude oil prices above $65 a barrel reignited inflation worries, and reminded Wall Street that other economic obstacles exist as well, such as a weak dollar and slow housing market. Analysts said investors were trading deliberately - and avoided succumbing to pre-13,000 euphoria. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 42.58, or 0.33 percent, to 12.919.40. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 3.42, or 0.23 percent, to 1,480.93. The Nasdaq composite index lost 2.72, or 0.11 percent, to 2,523.67. Bonds rose as stocks fell. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note fell to 4.65 percent from 4.67 percent late Friday. Crude oil prices climbed $1.65 to $65.76 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on growing concerns that oil supplies could be disrupted as violence escalates in Nigeria. Gold prices slipped. The dollar rose slightly against the euro and British pound, but is still trading at historically low levels versus those currencies. Advancing issues narrowly outnumbered decliners on the New York Stock Exchange, where consolidated volume came to 2.56 billion shares, down from 3.29 billion on Friday. The Russell 2000 index fell 1.31, or 0.16 percent, to 827.55.

KINGSPORT - Mountain States Health Alliance team members were honored for their service at a banquet at MeadowView Conference Resort and Convention Center on Thursday. Five MSHA team members were named as Servant's Heart winners, the ultimate honor for an employee at Mountain States. The Servant's Heart Awards are presented annually to MSHA team members who exemplify the philosophy of patient-centered care in their lives on and off the job. "It always gives me great pleasure to stand before you at this annual service awards banquet. It represents the hard work, the caring and the MSHA focus of patient-centered care in its finest hour," said Dennis Vonderfecht, MSHA president and chief executive officer. Servant's Heart winners for 2007 are James Eitel, shift supervisor of meals at Johnson City Specialty Hospital; Joy Ketterman, an ICU nurse at Sycamore Shoals Hospital, Elizabethton; Bob Parkerson, clinical pharmacy coordinator at Johnson City Medical Center; Ivalee Stevens, licensed practical nurse on the oncology floor at JCMC; and Sharon Wade, registered nurse transitional care at Indian Path Medical Center, Kingsport. Vonderfecht, along with MSHA vice presidents, also recognized years of service, beginning with 10 years of service through 45 years of service, to more than 300 MSHA team members. Many walked across the stage to receive certificates of appreciation.

BLOUNTVILLE - Florida leads a list of the top 10 states requesting or receiving relocation information for Sullivan County, Kingsport, Bristol, Tenn., and Bluff City, according to NETWORKS â€“ Sullivan Partnership. From July 2006 to March 2007, 176 requests came from Florida followed by 83 from New York, 73 from Virginia, 59 from North Carolina, 56 from California, 43 from Wisconsin, 41 from Pennsylvania, 38 from Ohio, 31 from Texas and 30 from Maryland. Tennessee with 101 requests, Illinois with 955 and Michigan with 673 were excluded because they might skew the results. Brochures were passed out at events in Chicago and Detroit. Unique URLs that hit Web sites promoting relocations to Sullivan County or one of the cities totaled 10,799 for the nine-month period. For more information about NETWORKS visit www.networkstn.com.